Fire Roasted Anaheims with Orzo & Vegetables

The challenge this week is to scour the fridge and use up the bits, the stem ends and the ingredients bought – in a now forgotten – flash of inspiration.

The majority of my menus veer towards the Mexican and the Mediterranean, and with a bit of ingenuity, adventure and fearlessness, the two can be blended together quite successfully.

I’d been eyeing a bag of orzo in the cupboard for quite some time and it became the base for my project.

(Did you know that orzo is a pasta shaped like flat rice but goes by an Italian name that actually means barley). Why? Better sales? Quien sabe!

Anaheim chile peppers, a common sight in my fridge, are lovely green oblong peppers, mild in flavour that improves with roasting and peeling. They are terrific used as a stuffed chile (chiles rellenos), and so with orzo and Anaheims, the start of a Mexi-Medi-inspired dinner began.

Collecting the little bags and bowls of bits from the fridge in front of me, I managed a saute of garlic, green onions, spinach, chopped mushroom stems, Roma tomatoes and a jalapeno. Added to the cooked orzo, they became a tour de force of bright vibrant flavours and patriotic colours reminiscent of both the Italian and Mexican flags.

Once the charred chiles were peeled, I made a slit on the side of each pepper and carefully removed the inner membrane and seeds. Each chile was stuffed generously with the orzo mix and stood up side by each in a baking pan. The finish touch was a lavish topping of whatever cheese that needed using up. Baked until heated through at 325 degrees.